A Promise to Keep
by peacejaw
Summary: After Samantha has a nightmare, she decides to keep a promise she'd made to her husband. Please R & R, thanks! Has a 'T' rating, just in case. Set shortly after 'Prime Factors'.


**Disclaimer: **The usual disclaimers apply here: I don't own Star Trek: _Voyager_, or any of its main characters. I do own this story, however, and all original characters.

**Pairs: **W/Greskrendtregk

**Rating:** PG-13 – just in case

**Author's Note #1:** My apologies for taking so long to post more of this series; life sort of happened, and I wasn't able to write as much as I'd wanted to.

**Author's Note #2: **This takes place shortly after 'Prime Factors'.

**Summary:** After Samantha has a nightmare, she decides to keep a promise she'd made to her husband.

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A Promise to Keep by peacejaw

As the sun gently sets into the darkening horizon, Samantha Wildman watched it closely from the comfort of her husband's arms. Being wrapped closely within his embrace was one of the best presents she could have received from him on their first wedding anniversary, next to watching the sunset with him.

Sneaking a glance at their surroundings, Samantha could see the private Ktarian beach was empty of other people. She could see several Ktarian critters near the churning emerald water, doing who knew what. From their position on the pristine white sand, it was easy to see that the critters had no interest in what they were doing, and that was all she really needed to know about them. Looking around at the beach again, she saw that there were no animals large enough to consider Greskrendtregk or her food, and they themselves were just too big for the smaller animals to eat. The creatures were just too small, and the birds, which were flying to and from the trees just beyond the beach, were getting what they needed to eat from the sea.

With the occasional sounds from the birds and with waves gently rolling onto the shore, Samantha knew that she would never forget this visit to this particular paradise with her husband. The first-time visit to the beach had definitely made that much of an impression, and she would always be grateful to her husband for knowing what would capture her heart so completely. It also seemed like she was falling even more in love with Greskrendtregk the longer they were together, and she would be eternally grateful for that fact.

Looking up at the pink, purple, and orange sky again, her eyes went wide with amazement. As the sun slowly set, the colors deepened, giving them a new layer of beauty to them. She loved sunsets. Always had, and probably always would. Samantha figured that it had been this reason Greskrendtregk had brought her to this particular beach, and that made her body completely unwind from a very long, and very trying, month.

"It's so amazing," Samantha whispered softly, her eyes still transfixed on the sky.

"What is?" Greskrendtregk asked, his breath gently caressing her hair as he continued to cradle her.

"The sunset, they're so amazing here."

"Just like you," Greskrendtregk admitted, kissing her neck ever so softly.

Samantha could barely feel his lips pressing against her soft skin, yet she could feel the shivers going up and down her spine. Greskrendtregkk could, and would, always do that to her, even with the softest caress.

Greskrendtregk lowered Samantha onto her back as he brought his lips to hers. He gently rolled on top of her and pressed his lips to hers.

Samantha heard the soft moans escaping from her own mouth as her husband increased the pressure on her mouth. Resting her left hand on Greskrendtregk's neck, her right hand stroked his back. As she did so, Samantha could feel his hands over her body lovingly.

Anticipating his needs, she pulled off his light red jacket and sensually slid the shirt Greskrendtregk was wearing underneath off. Her left hand pulled him closer so that she was able to plant several gentle kisses down his neck, and then onto his chest.

When she felt Greskrendtregk attempting to remove her shirt, Samantha quickly took it off for him. And then she wiggled out of her skirt. When she reached out towards him again … Greskrendtregk disappeared.

Samantha woke up screaming a second later. Sweating profusely, shaking, and feeling rather disoriented, she was dimly aware of her fingers clinching her sheets tightly. Sitting upright, Samantha drew her soft, lightweight blanket up to her chest. Shivering, her heart racing, she tried to bring her erratic breathing under control. Within seconds, Mariah Henley's face was in front of hers. It took several seconds for Samantha's brain to comprehend what her roommate was saying.

"I'm okay, Mariah," she said uncertainly, still panting slightly from her fright.

"Are you sure Sam?"

Samantha nodded once. "I'm sure." Pushing the blanket off her body, she sat straight up. "I'm sorry that I woke you up."

Sitting down on the side of her bed, Mariah attempted a smile. "It's okay; besides, it's almost time to get up anyhow."

Glancing at the clock on her nightstand, Samantha nodded in understanding. "Still, I'm sorry that I woke you."

"Do you want to talk about your dream?"

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"You sure?" Mariah asked lightly. At Samantha's nod, Mariah attempted another smile. "All right, then. If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Samantha nodded in understanding. With Mariah as her roommate, it wouldn't be too difficult to find the woman if she ever decided to talk about the dream with her. "Thanks Mariah."

"No problem." They sat there in silence for a long moment before Mariah spoke again. "I think that I'd better go take my shower now, if you don't mind me going first?"

"Go on," Samantha encouraged light, attempting a wan smile, "I don't mind waiting for my turn."

Samantha watched Mariah pick up her clean uniform and headed into the bathroom that they shared. Almost immediately, she stood and started pacing. The dream bothered her more than she cared to admit to, and Samantha wasn't quite sure what to do about it. She could have talked to Mariah about it, certainly. But she didn't feel comfortable sharing such a personal dream with her roommate; they weren't quite that close in their friendship just yet.

The only person who fit that bill on _Voyager_ was Chakotay, and Samantha wasn't sure if she could tell him about the dream. If she told him, or anyone else for that matter, then she would have to voice her suspicion about what the dream actually meant. And there was no way she was ready to do that yet.

Hell, she wasn't even ready to admit the possibilities to herself. Still, Samantha knew that she couldn't avoid knowing what the dream meant. Either her husband of four years had dissolved their marriage, and their bond, or Greskrendtregk was dead. Since Ktarians mated for life, it was extremely difficult to dissolve a marriage or the bond a couple shared. The marriages and bonds that were dissolved were usually done due to an extremely unusual, situation. Most Ktarians learned to live with their mates, problems and all. Because she knew her husband well enough to know that he would not dissolve their marriage, or their bond, even with _Voyager_ being so far from home, Samantha was fairly certain that Greskrendtregk was probably dead.

Dead.

Samantha wished that she could blame the dream on the latest attempt to get home, but she knew better. Her bond with Greskrendtregk was gone, and there wasn't anything she could do about it, except maybe cling to the probability that she was pregnant with his child.

It was that probability, after all, that would no doubt give her something to remember her husband by, something other than simple memories. After all, her child would give her the strength and will to survive their long journey home. It would, Samantha knew, also give her the chance to be able to keep her most precious promise to Greskrendtregk: to name their son after Greskrendtregk, even if Greskrendtregk was a middle name.

Gathering up her clean uniform, Samantha sat back down on her bed. There was no point in going back to sleep, not when it was so close for her to wake up. Not that it really mattered. She doubted that she would have been able to return to sleep. Since Samantha knew that work was the best thing for her to focus on at the moment, that's what she was going to do: focus on her work.

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-Finished


End file.
